5 ms·

In the US, they have to by law... if the photo is advertising an actual product. For instance, they could garnish the photo with a basket of fresh tomatoes, a h

by gilrain 14y ago

In the US, they have to by law... if the photo is advertising an actual product. For instance, they could garnish the photo with a basket of fresh tomatoes, a head of lettuce, a friendly cow, etc. and that would be okay... as long as the actual product being sold is made using the as-sold ingredients. This law came about in, hm, the 60s? after the first wave of outrage over things like ice cream in advertisements being made out of textured lard, or whatever.

tptacek 14y ago
Is that actually the law? If you're referring to the FTC Act, I don't see the bright-line about using actual ingredients; the law says you can't make "deceptive" statements in advertising, and the FTC clarifies "deceptive" in a policy statement as (paraphrased) "a false statement about a material fact of the product that would mislead consumers into taking an action they wouldn't if the statement were known to be false". So, showing a 3/4 pound hamburger in an ad for 99 cent cheeseburgers would be material, but using colored caulk instead of mustard probably wouldn't be.
- gilrain 14y ago
  From here (http://insite.artinstitutes.edu/food-stylists-blend-technical-skill-creativity-for-the-camera-14570.aspx http://insite.artinstitutes.edu/food-stylists-blend-technica...): "The food stylist’s magic tricks face regulation from the Federal Trade Commission and its truth in advertising laws. That Crisco-powdered sugar mix can substitute for ice cream if it’s representing a generic dessert on a menu, Allaben says, but not if it’s hawking a brand name like Ben & Jerry’s." And here (http://www.cskern.com/blog/entryid/11 http://www.cskern.com/blog/entryid/11): "The truth is most of what you see in food photographs is real. FTC laws state that whatever you’re selling with a photo must be real in the image. To use a familiar example, if you’re selling corn flakes the flakes must be real. But then it gets interesting. You can use white glue instead of milk in your bowl of flakes because you’re not selling the milk, only the corn flakes." So, the product being sold must be real as-it-is-sold (albeit much more carefully styled, generally). The incidentals can be embellished. A McD's quarter-pounder is a single product, and so presumably must be made with its actual ingredients in ads.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    Not to be argumentative, let's stipulate that those two blog posts are true in spirit, but can anyone find the actual law or FTC policy statement that says "generic ice cream can be styled out of Crisco but Ben & Jerry's has to be real"? Also: McDonalds Canada specifically said, in this video, that they were not embellishing the incidentals; it was exactly the same buns, exactly the same pickles, just arranged differently.
    - gilrain 14y ago
      I'm not a lawyer, or even an armchair lawyer, so I don't know where to look to find the applicable laws. However, there are plenty of cites from industry people saying the same thing. I assume they have to be familiar with the law that regulates what they do. And the bun, pickles etc would have to be real by law, is what I'm saying. They're part of a single McD's product being sold by the photo.
      - tptacek 14y ago
        The subtext I'm communicating is, "if I was in the food marketing industry, I sure would want to communicate to the world that I was legally obligated to adhere to some strict code of conduct". It's a credibility booster. So I'm going a step further and seeing if anyone can use an advanced legal tool like Google or Wikipedia to find the place that says McDonalds must-absolutely-must use real pickles or exactly the real McNugget coating, no spraypaint allowed, in its food shoots. I think we've already shot to shit the verity of these photos when we observe that they're browning the burgers on a panini press and then saying "this food is ugly because if it looked like the ad, it would taste like shit". Well, you can say the same thing about overcooked protein as you can about a can of shellac, can't you?
        gilrain 14y ago
        "So I'm going a step further and seeing if anyone can use an advanced legal tool like Google or Wikipedia to find the place" I tried that, of course, and didn't find a proper law reference in the amount of time I dedicated to the task. I'll have leave it up to you to satisfy your curiosity from here. Please do post if/when you find it!
danso 14y ago
Really? I distinctly remember Jon Stossel having a news show in the 90s in which he showed how TV cereal commercials use glue as the milk
- JackFr 14y ago
  Because they're not selling milk. The cereal has to be genuine.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]

by gilrain 14y ago

tptacek 14y ago

Is that actually the law? If you're referring to the FTC Act, I don't see the bright-line about using actual ingredients; the law says you can't make "deceptive" statements in advertising, and the FTC clarifies "deceptive" in a policy statement as (paraphrased) "a false statement about a material fact of the product that would mislead consumers into taking an action they wouldn't if the statement were known to be false". So, showing a 3/4 pound hamburger in an ad for 99 cent cheeseburgers would be material, but using colored caulk instead of mustard probably wouldn't be.

gilrain 14y ago
From here (http://insite.artinstitutes.edu/food-stylists-blend-technical-skill-creativity-for-the-camera-14570.aspx http://insite.artinstitutes.edu/food-stylists-blend-technica...): "The food stylist’s magic tricks face regulation from the Federal Trade Commission and its truth in advertising laws. That Crisco-powdered sugar mix can substitute for ice cream if it’s representing a generic dessert on a menu, Allaben says, but not if it’s hawking a brand name like Ben & Jerry’s." And here (http://www.cskern.com/blog/entryid/11 http://www.cskern.com/blog/entryid/11): "The truth is most of what you see in food photographs is real. FTC laws state that whatever you’re selling with a photo must be real in the image. To use a familiar example, if you’re selling corn flakes the flakes must be real. But then it gets interesting. You can use white glue instead of milk in your bowl of flakes because you’re not selling the milk, only the corn flakes." So, the product being sold must be real as-it-is-sold (albeit much more carefully styled, generally). The incidentals can be embellished. A McD's quarter-pounder is a single product, and so presumably must be made with its actual ingredients in ads.
- tptacek 14y ago
  Not to be argumentative, let's stipulate that those two blog posts are true in spirit, but can anyone find the actual law or FTC policy statement that says "generic ice cream can be styled out of Crisco but Ben & Jerry's has to be real"? Also: McDonalds Canada specifically said, in this video, that they were not embellishing the incidentals; it was exactly the same buns, exactly the same pickles, just arranged differently.
  - gilrain 14y ago
    I'm not a lawyer, or even an armchair lawyer, so I don't know where to look to find the applicable laws. However, there are plenty of cites from industry people saying the same thing. I assume they have to be familiar with the law that regulates what they do. And the bun, pickles etc would have to be real by law, is what I'm saying. They're part of a single McD's product being sold by the photo.
    - tptacek 14y ago
      The subtext I'm communicating is, "if I was in the food marketing industry, I sure would want to communicate to the world that I was legally obligated to adhere to some strict code of conduct". It's a credibility booster. So I'm going a step further and seeing if anyone can use an advanced legal tool like Google or Wikipedia to find the place that says McDonalds must-absolutely-must use real pickles or exactly the real McNugget coating, no spraypaint allowed, in its food shoots. I think we've already shot to shit the verity of these photos when we observe that they're browning the burgers on a panini press and then saying "this food is ugly because if it looked like the ad, it would taste like shit". Well, you can say the same thing about overcooked protein as you can about a can of shellac, can't you?
      - gilrain 14y ago
        "So I'm going a step further and seeing if anyone can use an advanced legal tool like Google or Wikipedia to find the place" I tried that, of course, and didn't find a proper law reference in the amount of time I dedicated to the task. I'll have leave it up to you to satisfy your curiosity from here. Please do post if/when you find it!

danso 14y ago

Really? I distinctly remember Jon Stossel having a news show in the 90s in which he showed how TV cereal commercials use glue as the milk

JackFr 14y ago
Because they're not selling milk. The cereal has to be genuine.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]